(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming device capable of reproducing sound while printing, and a content reproducing method.
(2) Description of Related Art
The recent explosive use of the Internet and i-mode® realizes a variety of data distribution services available in homes. In addition, new services for distributing high-capacity video and sound data have also begun as a result of widespread use of broadband communication networks with a high transmission rate of about 500 kilobytes per second (kbps) or higher. Such broadband communication has been realized by wired communication technology, such as optical fibers, cable television (CATV), and xDSL (digital subscriber line), and by wireless communication technology, including FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) and IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunication 2000) defined by the International Telecommunications Union as the next-generation mobile communication technique.
A conventional image forming device has been used mainly for printing image data. In homes, use of the image forming device is usually restricted to printing, such as for images taken by a digital still camera (DSC), documents processed by a personal computer (PC), greeting cards, e-mails, and web pages.
With the stated widespread use of the broadband networks, it is expected that a wider variety of contents will be distributed to homes. For instance, a print content, which has been conventionally distributed by itself, may be distributed with other types of contents, such as a display content to display and a sound content, which are associated with the print content.
The conventional image forming device with its use restricted to printing, however, cannot process such print content in synchronization with processing of other types of contents.